Hitch assembly with retractable trailer coupling

ABSTRACT

A hitch assembly is proved with a retractable hitch mount and a retractable safety chain connector, both of which retract to provide a hitch assembly which conforms substantially to the contour of the towing vehicle body when the hitch assembly is not in use. The hitch mount is configured for retractable extension from a hitch base plate, providing a seat for a matching trailer mount. The safety chain connector is configured for retractable extension from the base plate, providing a seat for a trailer-connected safety chain. The hitch base plate attaches to the towing vehicle body, defining a support surface which is contoured substantially similar to the body contour of the towing vehicle. When the hitch mount and safety chain connector are retracted, the hitch assembly conforms generally to the body contour of the towing vehicle, minimizing any interference with the vehicle&#39;s use.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates generally to hitches, and moreparticularly, to a hitch assembly which employs a hitch mount and asafety chain connector, both of which may be retracted so as toestablish a hitch assembly which conforms substantially to the contourof the surface on which the assembly mounts. This arrangement has provenespecially useful in the context of a fifth wheel hitch assembly of thetype which may be found in the bed of a pick-up truck or flat bed truck,and the invention is described in that context below.

BACKGROUND ART

For a number of years now, various states have required the use ofchains, or cables, as a measure of safety when coupling a towing vehiclewith a trailer which is to be towed. In a typical hitch assembly, suchchains extend from the trailer to the towing vehicle, providing asecondary coupling for use in the event of a failure of the primarycoupling, i.e. a failure of the hitch mount. These so-called safetychains have proven particularly important where the coupling istemporary, such as that which is provided by a typical ball and sockethitch. These hitches, it will be understood, are specially designed toprovide for selected decoupling of the towed and towing vehicles, andthus may suffer from unintentional decoupling of such vehicles while inuse.

Ball and socket hitch assemblies have been characterized by a variety ofconfigurations, serving variously to carry everything from small utilitytrailers (e.g., by a rear bumper hitch configuration) to large boats andcampers (e.g., by a fifth wheel hitch configuration). Safety chains havefound utility in many of these configurations, including fifth wheelhitch configurations where the load carried by the hitch is substantial,and the consequences of hitch failure are corresponding severe. Suchfifth wheel hitches commonly mount to the towing vehicle's body, mostoften being secured to the bed of a flat bed truck. Other fifth wheelhitches mount to the roof of the towing vehicle, or to another vehiclebody surface which will provide adequate structural support.

Because most hitches are used intermittently, manufacturers long havesought to provide a hitch assembly which detachably mounts to thevehicle, or which may easily and quickly be adjusted so to provide onlyminimal interference with the vehicle's use. One such hitch(manufactured by Atwood Mobile Products of Rockford, Ill.) has beenprovided with a retractable hitch ball, the hitch assembly being mountedabove an opening in the vehicle body, and the hitch ball beingretractable into such opening so as to diminish interference of thehitch with normal vehicle appearance and use. The Atwood hitch assembly,however, has not adequately addressed the need for safety chains, havingfailed to provide a connector to which a safety chain may be secured. Itthus would be desirable to provide a hitch assembly including a safetychain connector which is retractable so as to minimize interference withthe vehicle's use.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

The aforementioned object is addressed by provision of a hitch assemblywith a retractable hitch mount and a retractable safety chain connector,both of which retract to provide a hitch assembly which conformssubstantially to the contour of the towing vehicle body when the hitchassembly is not in use. The hitch mount is configured for retractableextension from a hitch base plate, providing a seat for a matchingtrailer mount. The safety chain connector also is configured forretractable extension from the base plate to provide a seat for atrailer connected safety chain. The hitch base plate is configured forattachment to the towing vehicle body, defining a support surface whichis contoured substantially similar to the body contour of the towingvehicle (typically the bed of a pick-up truck or flat bed truck). Whenthe hitch mount and safety chain connector are retracted, the hitchassembly conforms generally to the body contour of the towing vehicle,minimizing any interference with the vehicle's use.

Typically, the base plate defines a hitch mount recess configured tohouse the hitch mount, and a pair of safety chain recesses configured tohouse a pair of safety chain connectors, often in the form of a loopsegment, or flap. Each safety chain connector thus typically defines aneyelet, such eyelet providing a seat for the trailer-connected chain.When the hitch assembly is not in use, the hitch mount is retracted intothe hitch mount recess, and the safety chain connectors are retractedinto the safety chain recesses, providing a hitch assembly liesgenerally flush with the vehicle body contour (e.g., a generally planartruck bed). The towing vehicle thus is configured to safely tow atrailer using the invented hitch assembly, but may readily be adaptedfor conventional use when the hitch assembly is not in use.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will bemore readily understood after a consideration of the drawings and thedetailed description which follows.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a hitch assembly constructed inaccordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, such hitchassembly being mounted in the bed of a truck and carrying a trailer witha pair of safety chains.

FIG. 2 is an isometric view of the hitch assembly shown in FIG. 1, thehitch assembly's hitch mount and safety chain connectors having beenretracted such that the hitch assembly lies generally flush with thetruck bed.

FIG. 3 is a side sectional view of the hitch assembly of FIG. 1, thehitch assembly being sectioned along lines 3--3 to illustrate retractionand extension of the hitch mount and safety chain connectors.

FIG. 4 is a partial isometric view of an alternative embodiment hitchassembly, such assembly being mounted in the bed of a truck in aconfiguration whereby a trailer may be coupled therewith.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary side sectional view taken generally along lines5--5 of the hitch assembly in FIG. 4 to show a safety chain connectorthereof in a retracted orientation.

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view similar to that of FIG. 5, butwith the safety chain connector extended for coupling with a safetychain.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT AND BEST MODE OFCARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Referring initially to FIG. 1, it will be understood that a fragment ofa conventional towing vehicle 10 has been shown, such vehicle providinga setting for the hitch invention which is herein described.

As indicated, vehicle 10 takes the form of a conventional pick-up truck,having a bed 12 in which a fifth wheel hitch assembly 14 mounts. Thetruck's bed typically defines a generally planar vehicle body surface12a which may be covered by a removable mat such as that shown at 12b.Hitch assembly 14 is constructed in accordance with a preferredembodiment of the present invention, being adapted for coupling with atrailer 16 and a pair of associated safety chains 18.

Focussing attention now on fifth wheel hitch assembly 14, it will benoted that such assembly includes a base plate 20 having a generallyplanar upper support surface 20a. The base plate is secured to the bedof the towing vehicle, generally being mounted centrally over a hole, oropening, through which the hitch assembly's underbody may be received(FIG. 3). Fasteners, such as those shown at 21, secure the hitchassembly in place.

The base plate is relatively thin, generally being less the 1/4-inchthick, and is contoured substantially similar to the contour of vehiclebody surface 12a. Upper support surface 20a thus will be understood tolie generally flush with the vehicle body surface 12a so as to minimizeany interference with the vehicle's use. This is particularly importantwhere the hitch assembly is mounted in a truck bed where a generallyflat surface is desired. It will be appreciated, however, that thesupport surface may be shaped variously in accordance with the contourof the body surface on which the hitch assembly mounts.

When configured as shown in FIG. 1, hitch assembly 14 will be seen toinclude a hitch mount which extends upwardly from the base plate in theform of a common hitch ball 22. As shown, the hitch ball is configuredto couple with a matching trailer mount in the form of a trailer tow bar16a which extends over the hitch ball and locks in place using aconventional locking mechanism (not shown). Hitch ball 22 thus acts as aprimary coupling between the towing vehicle and the trailer which istowed thereby.

In accordance with the present invention, the hitch ball is retractable,the base plate being provided with a pivotal trap door 23 which may bepivoted to uncover a hitch mount recess 23a. The trap door 23 defines afinger opening 23b which provides for gripping by a hitch operator toreadily open and close the trap door. Once the hitch mount recess isuncovered, the hitch ball may be pivoted, or otherwise retracted, intothe hitch mount recess, and the trap door closed so as to cover thehitch ball. This operation is best illustrated in FIG. 3, where thehitch ball is shown pivoting about an axis defined by pivot pin 22a.

The retracted hitch ball lies within a housing 22b, which is below thelevel of base plate support surface 20a, and is covered by the closedtrap door 23. When closed, the trap door's upper surface 23c liesgenerally flush with the base plate support surface. FIG. 2 shows thehitch assembly with the hitch ball retracted and the trap door closed.

In the depicted embodiment, trap door 23 serves a dual purpose, servingboth as a cover for a retracted hitch ball (FIG. 2), and as a lockingmechanism whereby the hitch ball is held in its upright orientation whenthe hitch ball is extended and the trap door is closed (FIG. 1). It willbe noted, for example, that the base plate and trap door collectivelydefine a circular opening 22c (FIG. 2) when the trap door is closed.Such circular opening closely conforms to the size and shape of thefoundation of the hitch mount.

A secondary coupling is provided by a safety chain connector arrangementin the form of a pair of safety chain connectors 24, 26 which arecoupled with the hitch base plate via a keeper arrangement 30. Thesafety chain connectors provide seats for safety chains 18. The safetychain connectors also preferably are arranged symmetrically about thehitch ball (on the portion of the hitch base plate which is toward therear of the towing vehicle) so as to provide a somewhat stable secondarycoupling between trailer 16 and towing vehicle 10.

As indicated, the safety chain connectors extend upwardly from the baseplate when in use (FIG. 1), but retract into base plate recesses whenthe hitch assembly is not in use (FIGS. 2 and 3). Connector 24 thus willbe seen to retract into safety chain recess 25. Connector 26 retractsinto a similar safety chain recess 27. Each safety chain recess isdefined by a pair of transversely-intersecting elongate slot portions25a, 25b, 27a, 27b which allow for ready grasping of the retractedsafety chain connectors to pull them out from safety chain recesses 25,27.

In FIGS. 1 through 3, each connector takes the form of a loop segmentwhich defines an eyelet through which a safety chain may be connected tothe hitch base plate. Such connection is made via a removable safetychain link 28 which includes an opening selectively closed by a threadedsleeve 28a or other means such as a locking hook, clip latch, etc. Toremove the safety chain, the hitch operator need only turn sleeve 28a soas to expose an opening in link 28 and then slide the link over safetychain connector 26. Similarly, link 28 may be removed from the safetychain by passing the safety chain through the opening in link 28.

Keeper arrangement 30 includes a pair of transverse keeper bars 30a,30b, each of which extends within a safety chain recess to keep acorresponding safety chain connector in coupled relation with the hitchbase plate. The safety chain connectors, it will be noted, areconfigured for limited movement relative to the keeper bars, eachincluding a pair of stops 24a, 26a. As should be apparent from thedashed line illustration of the right side safety chain connectoridentified as 26' in FIG. 3, removal of the safety chain connector willbe prohibited by contact between stops 26a' and keeper bar 30b.

The safety chain connectors and hitch mount collectively may beconsidered to be a trailer coupling arrangement. The safety chainrecesses and hitch mount recesses collectively may be considered atrailer coupling recess arrangement. It will be appreciated that thetrailer coupling arrangement and trailer coupling recess arrangementboth may vary without departing from the invention as claimed.

As indicated in FIGS. 2 and 3, the safety chain connectors and the hitchmount all retract into corresponding recesses to provide a hitchassembly which lies generally flush with the surface of truck bed 12a.It thus will be appreciated that bed mat 12b (FIG. 1) may be placed overthe hitch assembly, making the hitch assembly virtually undetectable tothe towing vehicle's operator when the hitch assembly is not in use.

In another embodiment of the invention, shown in FIG. 4, a hitchassembly 114 is provided with an alternative safety chain connectorarrangement in the form of a pair of pivotal flaps 124, 126. Hitchassembly 114 mounts in a truck bed 112 on a generally planar vehiclebody surface 112a, and is configured for use in coupling the truck to atrailer such as that indicated at 16 in FIG. 1. Trailer 16, it will berecalled employs a pair of trailer-connected safety chains such as thatshown at 18.

Like hitch assembly 14, hitch assembly 114 includes a thin base plate120 with a generally planar upper support surface 120a. The base plateis secured to the towing vehicle over a hole, or opening, securementbeing accomplished via fasteners such as those shown at 121. A hitchmount in the form of a common hitch ball 122 extends upwardly from thebase plate to couple with a matching trailer mount. The hitch ball isretractable through a trap door 123 which lies generally flush with thebase plate's upper support surface when closed to cover hitch mountrecess 123a.

Unlike the hitch assembly shown in FIGS. 1 through 3, however, the hitchassembly of FIGS. 4 through 6 includes the safety chain connectorarrangement in the form of a pair of flaps 124, 126, each of which ispivotally retractable into a corresponding safety chain recess 125, 127.Each safety chain recess is shaped similarly to its corresponding flap.Although the depicted flaps are rectangular, it will be understood thatsuch flaps may take a variety of other shapes. The flaps and safetychain recesses are arranged symmetrically about the hitch mount. Each ofthe safety chain connector flaps defines an eyelet 124a, 126a, sucheyelets being configured to receive a removable safety chain link suchas that shown at 128. The removable safety chain links, in turn, connectto the safety chains.

Referring now to FIGS. 5 and 6, where flap 124 is shown in detail, itwill be noted that such flap is mounted in a socket 130 for pivotbetween a retracted orientation (FIG. 5) and an extended orientation(FIG. 6) about an axis defined by pin 124b. Such pivot is illustrated byarrow 131 in FIG. 6. In the retracted orientation, the flap restsagainst ledge defined by a stop 132. In the extended orientation, theflap rests against the recess wall. The flap defines a support surface124c which, when closed, lies generally flush with upper support surface120a.

The safety chain connectors and hitch mount (collectively, the trailercoupling) of the hitch assembly shown in FIGS. 4 through 6 thereforewill be understood to retract into a corresponding recesses(collectively, the trailer coupling recess arrangement) to provide ahitch assembly which lies generally flush with the towing vehicle's bodysurface. Hitch assembly 114 thus is configurable to lie generally flushwith the towing vehicle body surface so as to minimize interference withtowing vehicle appearance and utility when the hitch assembly is not inuse.

While the present invention has been shown and described with referenceto the foregoing operational principles and preferred embodiment, itwill be apparent to those skilled in the art that other changes in formand detail may be made therein without departing from the spirit andscope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:
 1. A hitch assembly for use in coupling the towing vehicle witha trailer, said hitch assembly comprising:a hitch base plate configuredfor attachment to the towing vehicle, said hitch base plate including asupport surface contoured substantially similar to a body contour of thetowing vehicle, and said hitch base plate defining a safety chainrecess, said safety chain recess being configured to house said safetychain connector, and wherein said safety chain recess includes a pair oftransversely intersecting elongate slot portions; a hitch mountconfigured for retractable extension from said hitch base plate toprovide a seat for a matching trailer mount; a safety chain connectorconfigured for retractable extension from said hitch base plate toselectively provide a seat for a trailer-connected safety chain, saidsafety chain connector being defined by a retractable flap with aneyelet, said hitch base plate including a safety chain recess configuredto house said flap; wherein said hitch base plate includes a keeperwhich extends across said safety chain recess to couple said flap withsaid hitch base plate; wherein said hitch assembly further includes aremovable safety chain link which connects the safety chain to saidflap; and said hitch mount and said safety chain connector beingretractable to provide a hitch assembly which conforms generally to thebody contour of the towing vehicle when said hitch assembly is not inuse.
 2. The hitch assembly of claim 1, wherein said flap is pivotallymounted on said hitch base plate, said safety chain recess beingconfigured to receive said flap to provide a hitch base plate with asupport surface which conforms substantially to the body contour of thetowing vehicle.
 3. A fifth wheel hitch assembly which secures to agenerally planar body surface of a towing vehicle for use in couplingthe towing vehicle with a trailer which is to be towed, said hitchassembly comprising:a thin, generally planar base plate attached to thebody surface of the towing vehicle, said base plate including an uppersupport surface which defines a trailer coupling recess arrangement; apivotal hitch mount which extends selectively from said base plate toprovide a seat for a matching trailer mount, said hitch mount beingretractable into said trailer coupling recess arrangement; and aplurality of safety chain eyelets which extend selectively from saidbase plate to provide seats for trailer-connected safety chains, eachsafety chain eyelet being retractable into said trailer coupling recessarrangement, and wherein each safety chain eyelet is defined in aretractable flap which extends and retracts through said trailercoupling recess arrangement, said base plate including a keeper withinsaid trailer coupling recess arrangement to couple said eyelet with saidbase plate; and said hitch assembly thus being adaptable to liegenerally flush with the body surface of the towing vehicle when saidhitch assembly is not in use.
 4. The hitch assembly of claim 3, whereineach flap is pivotally mounted on said base plate.
 5. In a fifth wheelhitch assembly having a thin, generally planar base plate installed on agenerally planar body surface of a towing vehicle, and a retractablehitch mount which extends selectively from said base plate to provide aseat for a matching trailer mount of a trailer which is to be towed, theimprovement comprising:a retractable safety chain connector whichextends selectively from said base plate to provide a seat for atrailer-connected safety chain, said safety chain connector and hitchmount retracting to provide a hitch assembly which lies generally flushwith the body surface of the towing vehicle; and wherein said base plateincludes a safety chain recess configured to house said safety chainconnector to provide a base plate with a generally planar supportsurface, and a transverse keeper which extends across said safety chainrecess, said safety chain connector being defined by a pivotallyretractable flap with an eyelet, which flap extends and retracts throughsaid safety chain recess and is coupled to the base plate via saidkeeper.